Us Against the World
by lulu halulu
Summary: "Things could be worse! Remember, it's us against the world, right? At least we have each other!" Annabeth shook her head. It couldn't be worse. Because now, they didn't have each other. Thalia was just…gone. Luke/Annabeth/Thalia friendship. Oneshot.


Disclaimer: Lulu halulu does not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians or its characters.

Us Against the World

Annabeth paled. This…this couldn't be happening. It wasn't possible. She bit her lip and turned to Luke. He would know what to do, he _always_ knew what to do, and he would never let Thalia go, not like this.

Annabeth almost broke down right there. Luke's expression; it wasn't calming or reassuring. It was absolutely livid. His knuckles whitened as he clenched his fists so tightly, Annabeth worried his nails may pierce through his skin.

"Do something. _Fix this._" He spat through his gritted teeth, no doubt using every ounce of self-control he could muster.

Chiron sighed sadly, shaking his head. "I'm sorry but there really isn't anything we can do. She's gone." Grover bowed his head sadly, too ashamed to look either demigod in the eyes.

"No." Luke spat, taking an alarming step toward the centaur. "_Bring her back._"

"Luke-" Chiron amended.

"Listen up you stupid horse." Annabeth sniffled. "This camp was supposed to protect her." Luke's voice strained as it became louder and louder. "That's why we came."

"As I explained before, Thalia was outside of the camp's borders when-"

"When what? When you _failed_ to protect her!" Luke grabbed an object off of Chiron's desk. _A snow globe?_ Annabeth vaguely wondered as she watched Luke throw it against the wall.

The glass shattered, spraying water and what looked like a small figurine of the Empire State Building, across the room.

Chiron's eyes widened. "Luke, please-" He raised his arms up. "Stay calm,"

Annabeth sucked in a harsh breath. That had been the worst possible thing Chiron could have said. Tears cascaded down her face as Luke screamed. She brushed away her continuous tears with her grimy, overlarge sleeve and choked back sobs.

"_Bring!_" He threw a colourful ceramic pencil holder. "_Her!_" A chair hit the wall by Grover's head. "_Back!_" The desk was knocked over. "_Now!_"

Annabeth had never seen Luke cry before. Never. No matter how tough things got, not matter how many monsters had attacked them that day or how little food they had eaten, Luke always smiled and laughed like it was no skin off his back.

"_Things could be worse! Remember, it's us against the world, right?_ _At least we have each other!" _

Annabeth shook her head. It couldn't be worse. Because now, they didn't have each other. Thalia was just…gone.

Luke's face was streaked with tears. His features were filled with so much anguish; Annabeth felt like the whole world had collapsed.

In a way, it had. For her and for Luke.

"Annabeth…" She looked up angrily. Chiron had no right to speak to her so calmly and familiarly, as though he knew her, as though he was someone who really cared. The only people that cared about her, that had _ever_ cared about her, were Luke and Thalia.

"_What?_" She spat savagely, ripping her arm away from his aggravatingly gentle touch.

Chiron's eyes moved from her small form to Luke, now trembling in fury as he cried out, tossing all of Chiron's possessions towards Grover's terrified head, then back down to her. Without saying anything, she knew what he thought. That she needed to leave because Luke might hurt her.

Her whole body filled with fury, her eyes flashed a dangerous bloodshot red as tears continued to cascade down her cheeks. She had to use every ounce of her strength of mind not to pick up the one vase Luke had yet to trash and throw it violently at Chiron's unnervingly placid face.

"Argh!" A picture frame shattered by Grover's hoofs causing the alarmed satyr to jump.

Chiron and Grover made momentary eye contact before turning to Annabeth.

Annabeth had never felt so angry, so absolutely enraged, in her entire life. Luke would _never_ hurt her! She knew as much, he had told her countless times. In their completely useless bout of worrying, Chiron and Grover had neglected to notice that Luke had not once aimed anything towards her. In fact, it seemed quite clear to Annabeth, he had purposely aimed in the opposite direction as to avoid injuring her, even by accident. Of course, the two stupid half-breeds had refused to notice.

Worry now veiled their previously guilty visages as Luke continued to thrash and scream heartbreakingly.

"If you're so scared, just leave!" Annabeth shouted at them. She furiously pointed to the door which was now dripping with a strange green liquid. The innards of one of the casualties, Annabeth assumed.

While Grover looked like he wanted to do nothing more at that moment, Chiron seemed apprehensive.

"Chi—Blegh heh heh!" Grover made a sound vaguely like a mix between a goat and a ram as he jumped again, narrowly missing a shard of blue ceramic from colliding with his head.

It was clear Chiron didn't want to leave Annabeth alone with a grief-stricken, violent Luke but seemed to feel as though he had no choice in the matter. Removing her by force seemed impossible and she was by no means leaving by choice. A daughter of Athena, Chiron instantly knew from her stormy grey eyes, meant that she was unequivocally stubborn and was not going to leave even if she had to tie herself to the remains of Chiron's cabinet to do so.

Chiron begrudgingly nodded and proceeded towards the door, quickly grabbing the squealing satyr with him and slamming the door shut in order to not be hit with a full bottle of wine.

The deep purple liquid flew across the room, even spraying Annabeth's damp cheek. The wine melded with her tears as they rolled down her chin, dampening the expensive Persian rug. Of course, her tears staining the rug were of no consequence, especially considering everything else that had already been spilled by Luke. _Was there a god or goddess of cleaning?_ Annabeth thought sardonically.

With Luke's back still to her and Grover and Chiron now long gone, Annabeth anger began to subside until all that was left was a large, painful, gaping hole in her heart. Her body felt like an empty shell; it hurt so much she couldn't breathe. Silent tears spilled down but her loud sobbing had ceased; as had Luke's thrashing. The room was so quiet and so still; the only thing to be heard was Luke's shallow breath. Annabeth noted his shoulders still quaking violently and his fists curling up into a ball. Even with his back still turned, Annabeth knew his fury was gone. It seemed like every ounce of both their anger had melted away and all that was left, was a cold, chilling melancholy, the likes of which neither of them knew how exactly to overcome.

Suddenly, the spell of silence broke and Luke turned around. His hard face softened and Annabeth knew she had been right not to leave. Luke looked so battered, so destroyed; it almost broke her heart more, which she knew to be impossible in this moment. He slowly walked forward, towards her small figure, and fell to his knees. Grabbing her shoulders savagely yet tenderly, he pulled her into a hug. His arms wrapped her whole tiny body and she moved her wet face into the crook of his neck, and sobbed. Sobbed so loudly, so heart wrenchingly, her whole body shook as her arms wrapped around Luke's chest.

"It's okay…" He whispered as delicately as he could. His voice cracked and he knew his reassurance had fallen to deaf ears. He hadn't believed it and he knew neither had Annabeth.

He stroked her messy blonde hair with his large hard. A little blood wiped through her golden curls from a nasty puncture on Luke's palm from the shard of glass he had thrown.

"We'll bring her back." Another false reassurance, they both knew.

Luke had begun to sob once again, his cries of pain melding with Annabeth's as they clung to each other desperately. He tried his hardest to stop, he had already broken down once, now was the time to comfort Annabeth. His heart, it seemed, thought this stupid and refused to stop bleeding long enough to listen to his pounding brain. Tears soaked through his T-shirt and Annabeth's overlarge jacket. A jacket she had borrowed from Thalia just that morning, they both noticed with a start, unloading some fresh tears.

It became difficult for either of them to breathe and their choked sobs now echoed through the whole building. When it seemed clear their sobs would not die down anytime soon, Luke pulled away, and gently clutching Annabeth's trembling shoulders, he looked her straight in the eyes. His clear blue orbs delved into her stormy grey ones and his expression hardened momentarily, determinedly.

"We're going to get through this." A promise. Not an empty reassurance, but a chock-filled promise.

Luke's jaw was set as tears still trickled down from his bloodshot eyes and Annabeth nodded, her lip trembling as she tried to force away her tears before letting out a startling shudder and breaking down into heartbreaking cries once again. Luke pulled her back into his arms and whispered more reassurances in her hair while stroking her back.

"We'll be okay, I promise." '_Us against the world' _Annabeth thought bitterly.

Their sobs continued to fill the air and they clutched each other more tightly than ever before. Maybe things would get better, but not for a while. Not for a _long_ while. But they had each other, and Luke's promise. A promise, Annabeth knew, he would never break. _Never._

_Well…that was sad. Not really sure where this story came from but yeah…it was fun to write! You can really view it however you want. It can be Thaluke, Lukabeth, Thalia/Annabeth, or just friendship; whatever tickles your fancy! Personally, I think it was Thaluke with Thalia/Annabeth and Luke/Annabeth friendship thrown in, but that's the beauty of this type of story, you can make it whatever you want! Nothing is said outright. Anyway…I hope you liked it and I would really appreciate a review! Thanks for reading! _

_-Lulu halulu =)_


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